Changing my Art Style

[Prettysenshi]

Okay. I love my webcomic, Circle Arcadia. Even if no one else does.

However, I will be attending college soon....this fall....and I will be pretty busy studying Nursing. So, with that said, I want to change the format of my comic so that it can be easier and quicker to make. Plus I get tired of drawing with the mouse.

Has anyone heard of the comic Pandect? It's one of my favorite comics here on Keenspace, drawn by the talented Dina Stu. I really like her style, and her pages seem really easy to draw. So, I wanted to go somewhere in that direction. Everything, including the text is done by hand with a pencil, and I just tone using GIMP--I'm poor!!!

Opinions please.

[Kris X]

Pandect is most popular, but also very-very well done. The artist has also been around for a loooong time. I'd say email em for tips, but the busy level for comic artists is high, especially that particular artist.

Do the style that's easy and yet not too easy to the point were it looks easy. I have GIMP and my comics aren't poor at all (To my knowledge).

However, I highly suggest right now you make a buffer for at least the first month you'll be in college. (I'm going through this transition too and plan to have all of September's comics done before I start school)

[Prettysenshi]

thanks. the idea of making my comics ahead of time for that first month is a really good idea. I'll consider it.

Still, if you go to my site--don't mind that half-page thing, i'll fix it---you'll notice that the archives are grayscale at first, then became color. Do you think that i should go back to grayscale, or stick to color?

[Kris X]

Color can be a pain in the butt, maybe you could plan to do one page a week colored and then everything else that weak in greyscale, if greyscale is easier, that is.

[Prettysenshi]

Hmmm. That's also a good idea. thank you. I've seen such a setup around Keenspace before. I'll consider that too. I just don't want to change my style so drastically, and then no one likes it. Still, I don't think that their opinion will matter that much since it is MY comic and it's free.

I don't like it when fans complain about something that they aren't paying for. If it's free, then be happy.

[Christwriter]

My only suggestion is to type in your text rather than hand-write it. Nobody I've seen with the possible exception of Joe England has been able to do hand-written letters well. They have to be legible, on a line and consistant. It will take much time to get it too look right. Typing will take like five minutes in a rush, rather than the amount of time it will take to hand-write it.

CW

[McDuffies]

Um, let me see if I understood it well... You want to copy other artist's style because it seems to you that her comics are easy to make?
I see possible problems in that:

1. Artist shouldn't copy other artists styles. Change in style should be a result of artistic growth, not looking up to someone else.

2. Keenspace is down right now so I can't check that comic, but if it looks as slick as you describe it, it is very likely that she spends even more time on it than you. Sometimes, making comics look effortless is actually a hard task.

3. There's a lot about skills there. Look of the comic depends on how skilled artist is, but so is time spent on making a comic. It is possible that, even though Dina Stu spends less time on making a comic, it is a result of her skills, not her style.

4. If you like your comic, why change it?

5. Gimp is a very good tool. I know od a lot of excellent comics made with Gimp.

My suggestion is to go to other direction, switch to greyscalle of change the updating schedule; Try automatize making your comic more, see which steps you can go through faster (drawing frames or lettering, for instance).

And most of all, mouse is not a tool intended for drawing. No wonder it takes you a lot of time. Consider getting a scanner or a tablet. If you're moving at college, maybe you'll be able to use some library scanner or something.

[Dutch!]

I agree with the above. If you like your comic (which you should, you're the one who has to make it), then don't sell yourself short and change it around on a whim. Do as Kris suggests. Spend the time you have now before college starts to build up the buffer to see you through the first term or so. That'll give you a chance to sum up how much spare time you'll have at during school weeks to work on further strips yet you won't have the pressure of having to get them done. You'll then know whether you really have to change your style or (better) alter your updates.

I'm in the same boat. Teaching doesn't give you all that much time after work to focus solely on three strips a week, so I'm using the holidays to build the buffer too. I'm full to the end of the month and this week I intend to have at least August and hopefully the first half of September settled down too. That would see me through the term and if I find time to make some more in that period, then it slowly tops up the buffer without worrying that I'm not making three a week.

It takes a little bit of organisation, but leaves those longer periods relatively free of the pressure of updating until when you have the time again.

Cheers.

[Prettysenshi]

1. Artist shouldn't copy other artists styles. Change in style should be a result of artistic growth, not looking up to someone else.

No, I think I got this out wrong. I wasn't trying to copy her style, but the method in which she uses to make her comics, which is everything by hand, and then scanned, and toned. That's what I meant, sorry, for the confusion.

4. If you like your comic, why change it?

I really do like my comic, but if I'm not 100% satisfied with the end project, then of course I would want to change it. However, sometimes I do get discouraged b/c alot of my frustration out of the style or content of my work comes from the fact that I don't have that many readers, as far as I know. I can get kinda envious of other webcomics out there.

My suggestion is to go to other direction, switch to greyscalle of change the updating schedule; Try automatize making your comic more, see which steps you can go through faster (drawing frames or lettering, for instance).

I agree. I'll try that. Thanks.

And most of all, mouse is not a tool intended for drawing. No wonder it takes you a lot of time. Consider getting a scanner or a tablet. If you're moving at college, maybe you'll be able to use some library scanner or something.

So true. Still, I think that I've gotten to be an ace at drawing with a mouse. I plan to get a all-in-one printer, which includes a scanner by the time I go to college this fall, if anything. Tablets can be pricey, and my parents aren't gonna buy me things that aren't neccessary academically. All-in-ones would help me alot.

But thanks for the comments.

[Bwerith]

I used to draw a lot with the mouse. Got fairly good at it, too. (Here is an example.) But I was mainly doing it because I didn't have access to a scanner. My hand goes into cramp-tacular spasms just at the thought of mouse-drawing a regularly updated comic! I would definitely say it's time to get your pencil in motion (or buy a tablet, whichever).

[Prettysenshi]

I used to draw a lot with the mouse. Got fairly good at it, too. (Here is an example.) But I was mainly doing it because I didn't have access to a scanner. My hand goes into cramp-tacular spasms just at the thought of mouse-drawing a regularly updated comic! I would definitely say it's time to get your pencil in motion (or buy a tablet, whichever).

I rarely get cramps. But your'e right. I should start using a pencil. Oh, and you're right. You're mouse-art skills are very good.

[Yeahduff]

My only suggestion is to type in your text rather than hand-write it. Nobody I've seen with the possible exception of Joe England has been able to do hand-written letters well. They have to be legible, on a line and consistant. It will take much time to get it too look right. Typing will take like five minutes in a rush, rather than the amount of time it will take to hand-write it.

CW

I don't know if I could possibly disagree with you more.

[Genesis_13]

Well, I suppose it depends on how good your handwriting is in the first place. If your normal handwriting is illegible, then you have to work harder to make it look nice. Personally, I hand-lettered a comic the other day and it took me nearly a half an hour, whereasn if I had typed it it would have taken the prementioned five minutes.

I suggest to try lettering the same comic both ways just to find out which is quicker...as always, it varies person to person.

[Bwerith]

I rarely get cramps.

Lucky you

But your'e right. I should start using a pencil.

It took me a while to get used to it, switching from mouse to pencil. No "undo" command... and you don't have to save every few minutes

At first I was a bit dissatisfied with my pencilling, though. My hand wasn't used to it, I didn't always get the best results. And my inking sucked... it still does, a few years later. But I wouldn't go back to mouse-drawing for anything, these days.

Oh, and you're right. You're mouse-art skills are very good.

Thank you! However I must admit that most of the prettiness comes from the fact that I was using a friend's copy of Photoshop at the time. I don't have access to super wonderful image manipulation goodness anymore... which is another reason why I decided to switch to pencil and paper.

Also because it is much easier to cart around a sketchbook, to doodle in class or on the subway or whenever I can snatch five minutes in my depressingly busy schedule, than a desktop computer. Less wear and tear on the shoulders.